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y theoretical transnationalism studies are needed. One way to do this isthrough an SMS methodology. This paper has reviewed the main addedadvantages of using such a methodology. First, an SMS methodologyallows migration policies in a receiving country to be directly linked toeffects at the local level in developing countries. Second, it highlights thatflows engendered by migration are two-way: Not only do they involveremittances from migrant recipient countries to their home countries, butflows of especially services also go from developing to developed countryand that these should be taken into account when studying the benefitsand costs of migration for developing countries. Regarding the quality ofdata, an SMS methodology allows the triangulation of results, providessupplemental information with which to improve the reliability of data, andit allows getting beyond dominant migration discourses. Finally, an SMSmethodology goes beyond the dichotomy of internal versus internationalmigration, and rather highlights how the two forms of migration are linkedthrough transnational networks.A second implication regards how migration is to be conceptualized bothin academia and policy circles. Migration is usually either seen as an issuewith respect to development and is studied by developing-area specialists(development economics, development studies), or as related to issuesof integration and social exclusion and is studied by people of differentdisciplines focusing on the developed world, where migrants usually moveto (for a recent review, see Portes and DeWind 2004). Policies follow asimilar separation. While development often falls under the mandate ofthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs, integration is an issue dealt with by theministries concerned with the national territory, such as the Ministry ofthe Interior, of Education, and of Justice. This dichotomy obfuscates therelationship that exists between migration policies in developed countriesand development in the countries where many migrants come from. A bifocallens used in transnationalism studies and in specific an SMS methodologyis useful for highlighting the linkages that exist between migration policiesin developed countries and people’s lives in the developing world.87